Machine for operating on sheet material



Feb. 13, 1940. L B. HOPER 2,189,797

MACHINE FOR OPERATING ON SHEET MATERIAL Filed Oct. 14, 1937 Patented Feb. 13,-1940:

ffaisawvy j MACHINE ron oPERATiNG' loN .SHEET i MATERIALyyy l Lester Hooper, Beverly, Mass., lassigner 'to United Shoe Machinery Corporation, Boroughv f of llernin'gton, N. J., a corporation of New y UNITED STATES'lm'lENTVl 'OFFICE Jersey` v o Application' october 14, 1937, serial No. l168,917

l2 claims... I This invention relates'to machines for operating uponsheet material and is herein illustrated as embodied in a clicking machine of the type dislin the name'of Arthur Bates.` It is an object of the invention to provide-in y machine of the typereferred to improvedfg-means V for facilitating operation upon 'materials of .10 greater width than the bed of themachine. To

this end, and as shown, I have `provided a carriage arranged to receive 4and support the body portion of `sheet material to be operated upon, any

tion of the material throughout its entire width in fixed position heightwise of the bed, the carriage y being movable on rollers across the front of, the

machine in positioning different portions of the `material upon the bed.

This construction facilitates the handling-'of the material since the latter will rest evenly upon' no tendency of the material to drag as it is shifted over the surface of the bed;

' Other objects and features of the invention-v are disclosed in the accompanying drawing and pointed out in the appended claims.

In the drawing,

Fig; 1 is a perspective view of a Aclicking machine having embodied therein a cloth .carriage constructed in accordance with my invention; and Fig. 2 is a view in cross section of the carriage and its supporting structure. As shown in Fig. 1, the machine comprises a frame l0 carrying a cutting bed or block yI2 and a presser arm I4 mounted upon a vertical spindle I6 for movement angularly about the axis, of the spindle transversely across the block and movable heightwise with the spindle toward or away from the cutting block t2,y the presser arm I4 being constructed and arranged to operate upon dies to form blanks from sheet lmaterial such as cloth I8 positioned upon the'cutting block I2. For a more lcomplete description of the` parts thus far deto the above mentioned Letters Patent No. 921,503.

In order to supportfthe body portion of material to `be operated upon, for example, a bolt of y cloth, I haveprovd'ed a carriage comprising a the bed withoutwrinkles and there is little or in the following detailed specification and are,`

scribedand their operation reference may be had machine frame. I0 and exter'ldsY across the front Aof 'the' machine parallel to theforward edgel'of ,the cuttingfblock l2. 'Ir'ne troughis provided with i vtraclzsin the -form lof anglelirons 22 (Figs'Z) secured to Athe bottom thereof and` extending lengthwise of. the trough.y These'angle irons rest` upon yrollers 24 and 26 lcarried by` shafts 28 and'l t mounted in brackets 32 upon the frame lil. f The troughtl carries two guard rails 34 secured n to the ends of the trough by bolts 3S and having 10 portions 38 'spaced from the bottom of the'troughfy and extending lengthwise thereof beneath the I rollers 2'4"and' 2.6 to preventdisplacement of the ftrough yin` `a heightwisev direction; The inner flanged portions 40 of the angleirons`22 prevent 15 lateral displacement of the trough from the rollers and guide .the trough ,in itsmovements. This arrangement is suchv that the trough can be vmoved back and forth across' the front of the machine as required to present different portions of 20 sheet material tothe cutting surface of the blocky l2. The lateral movement of the troughzis limited by stops comprising lsleeves 42 and 44 which are secured between the bottom of the trough 20 andf25 the forwardly extending guard rail 38 bymeans of `bolts 46. Asshown in Fig. 1,'the stop 42v is arranged to engage the forward roller 24 to limit movement of the trough to the right in the figure, and the rstop 44 is adapted to engage the forward 30 Means is provided for holding the free end of the' cloth in position upon the cuttingblock l2 against the pull of the bight of the cloth which 35 n face of `the block and which is supported by two 40;

upstandingbrackets securedby bolts 53 to the ends ofthe trough, `The brackets c'arry rods E2 which normally extend along the inclined face of the apron' and are rotatably mounted in bearings 54 `for angular movement in a vertical plane 45 intersecting the apron. yThe rods are provided with curved work engaging members 55 which are.

` operative to clampor wedge the material against the inclined face o f the apron under they/'eight of the rods and members. ymaintained in position on the block Il? against `the downward pull of the bight thereof. I-,Iowever, when the material is pulled upwardly over lthe apron the members 55 are raised slightlyv by f friction releasing the clamp-pressure. It is vtoI` 55 roller 26 to limitmovement of the troughto the left.

Thus, the 4material is 50 be noted that the trough 2D and the apron 48 are approximately tWice as Wide as the cutting block l2 so that cloth of greater Width than that of the cutting block can be supported in the trough and held securely in position on the apron. That portion ofthe apron Which extends beyond the side of the cutting block when the trough is in either of its extreme positions serves to support that part of the end portion of the material not positioned upon the block and prevents drag of the material when the trough is moved laterally.

In the operation of the machine material of greater Width than the cutting block l2 is placed in the trough 2t and the end of the material is brought up over the apron 48 and into position upon the surface of the cutting block, the material being clamped in xed position heightv/ise of the block by the clamping members 52. At this time the trough is moved on the rollers 24y and 26 into suchposition that approximately half of the full Width of the material is positioned upon the block I2. 'Ihe operator then performs cutting operations upon the surface of the material resting upon the block after which the trough and apron with the material clamped in position are moved laterally to present the remaining portion of the width of material to the cutting surface. Cutting operations are then performed on the freshly presented material after which a further length of the material is drawn up over the apron and the cycle of operations is repeated.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A machine for operating upon sheet material comprising a frame, a cutting bed carriedby the frame, rollers mounted upon the frame, a carriage for sheet material of greater Width than the cutting bed and mounted upon the rollers for movement along the front of the machine, stop members on the carriage arranged to engage the rollers for limiting movement of the carriage in either direction, an apron of greater width than the cutting bed secured to the carriage and extending along an edge of the bed, and means for securing an end portion of the material in engagement with the cutting bed and apron against movement heightwise of the bed.

2. A machine for operating upon sheet material comprising a frame, a cutting bed, rollers mounted on the frame, a trough mounted upon the rollers for movement along the front of the machine, tracks on the under side of the trough for guiding the trough in its movement on the rollers, rails carried by the trough and extending beneath and adjacent to the rollers for preventing heightwise movement of the trough, upstanding brackets mounted upon the trough, an apron secured to the upper ends of the brackets and extending along and beyond the forward edge of the cutting bed, and clamping means for securin xed position heightvvise of the bed an end vportion of sheet material extending from the trough over` the apron and bed.

LESTER B. HOOPER. 

